La Peppina è arrivato

RE*AC*TOR

She arrived today. To be honest, I was a little troubled, I had won the auction for €43 - these machines (when functional) usually go for closer to €200. The seller (German), admitted he didn't understand how to operate the machine, and couldn't guarantee everything was in place.

So I took it out of the box this evening, unsure if I had bought a lemon or not. Everything seemed in order, portafilter, double basket, no tamper and no single basket, although this was evident from the ad. I gave it a bit of a descale for good measure and off I went.

Problem no.1 - the portafilter is a very narrow diameter. 45mm to be exact. My 58mm tamper was useless. A suitable tamper will be wheeling it way to me via the internet, but I could hardly spend the meantime not trying out the machine.

Solution - stuff a load of tinfoil into the portafilter basket, to form a terrible but better than nothing tamper.

First go - i filled the basket to about level with the top with ground coffee (same fineness as my Classic). Only about 8g.

"Tamped".

Slotted the portafilter in, and pulled the lever down and released... nothing... pulled again.. this time coffee emerged.. but it was pale and weak looking.. a third pull brought me up to a reasonable volume, but the coffee had a thin pale crema, and frankly after a tasting sip, I threw it out.

I knew there was a good chance it was going to be difficult without a proper tamper, but I tried again. This time I put far more coffee in. I put in a little, tapped the portafilter to settle the coffee, add a little more. In the end I managed 14g.

"Tamped".

Also I did some follow up tamps with the top of a burn-eeze lid.

This time, I locked the portafilter in, and pulled down the lever, but instead of releasing it, I gave it 4 or 5 little pumps, just until I started to see coffee emerging, then I released it. What emerged was a stunning site to be hold, thick, dark red crema, tiger flecking. In the end it did go a little blond, but not majorly.

But here's the real catch - the taste. I haven't done a side by side test, but on my initial tasting the espresso produced with La Peppina has a much thicker mouthfeel. The flavour I would say is richer.

I haven't had time to really get into it, and it will be a little while before I have a proper tamper (unless someone can help on that front - or suggest somewhere local), but my initial impression is that this €43 spring lever kettle machine from the 70s has the beatings of my brand new Gaggia Classic - at least on espresso (it lacks any steam functionality).

I shall update as the week goes on.

For now, for those who didn't check out the other thread, this is what she looks like:

banaco73

Machine looks great when you become a dab hand you must put up a small utube clip to let us see it in action.

Good Luck with it:)

hshortt

That's pretty crazy loking, does the lever control the pressure?

RE*AC*TOR

Pulling the lever tightens a spring, attached to a piston. When you pull the lever, the spring is pulled back, and water enter the void created. Releasing the lever then allows the spring to push the water through the grouphead.

It doesn't have a boiler, rather an open top kettle (literally open, the lid is very flimsy). This means that as you pull a shot, unlike boiler machines, there is next to zero temperature swing.

Anyway, I'll get around to posting a video, maybe tonight, if I could find a suitable tamping implement....

Mr Magnolia

Look forward to the video. Going to see if I can get some reading material on this machine. It sounds like you could be on a winnner but at ~ €40 it was worth the risk anyway.

RE*AC*TOR

here's a review from alt.coffee (the newsgroup)

http://groups.google.ie/group/alt.coffee/browse_thread/thread/d9190c627b78c50b/be6f45c4fa5312cb?lnk=st&q=la+peppina&rnum=1#be6f45c4fa5312cb

Some select snippets (as its rather long)

This odd
little machine has no boiler, rather an enamel kettle that boils the
water sitting directly atop a cylinder with a spring lever that pushes
up.

The only problem is that the machine hasn't been made since about
1980. They still are found quite often on ebay and sell for around
$190 when in good condition.

This is not a commercial machine. The PF and group are chrome plated
aluminum and 49mm in size, the base and kettle lid are plastic, the
drip tray is tiny. It is however very well and simply built, and there
are no mickey-mouse features.

The lever arrangement is decidedly odd. It looks like the handle on a
slot machine. In fact, the whole machine looks somewhat surreal, as if
Marcel Duchamp went to a junkyard, got an old steam pressure espresso
machine group, welded it to a enamelled tea kettle, and mounted it all
on a slot machine chassis. However, the operation is easy -- just pull
the lever down, cocking the spring, hold it for about 10 seconds, then
release to to get another 15 seconds or so of pull. The only trick is
that it's best to cock it to below the level of the machine itself, so
the machine should be pulled to the counter edge to let the lever
clear the edge when pulled down.

I
switched to the double basket and started pumping the lever for the
preinfuse until I could feel some backpressure (per Roger's advice).
This produced a 3/4 ounce shot from 12 grams, a little less
concentrated than the 1 1/4 ounce 20 gram shots from the Tea, but now,
to my utter surprise, with crema equal to the Tea's and a buttery
seductive mouthfeel that was actually better. The flavors were also a
hair better, less rough edges, and slightly better aromatics. (RE*AC*TOR - he's referring here to the Isomac Tea, which costs about €1k)

Even PID'ed, the Peppina isn't the ultimate espresso machine. But in
terms of shot quality, it can hold it's own against most commercial
machines, even though it has an underweight, undersized group and an
operator with a total of 24 hours lever experience.

Mr Magnolia

Thanks RE*AC*TOR. Sounds like you got it for a snip really.

RE*AC*TOR

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6jYwJRBLJg

ok so, as you can see with the initial flush, the lever actually needs to come down to below the level of the counter, so for the shot I had to pull it out to the edge.

The tamper is made out of plaster of paris. Its terrible. At the end I go of camera for a couple of repair tamps with my trusty burneeze bottle lid.

Tasted great (the coffee, not the burneeze).

Mr Magnolia

Do you find yourself using the Peppina or the Classic more often? How has it worked out?

RE*AC*TOR

Classic more often, escpecially with company, as its just easier to pull multiple shots on the classic. Still better flavour on the Peppina though. I also still like my (6-cup) moka and my french press for when I want mutliple cups. Having said that, i would be more than covered if I only had a Peppina, if anything I have too many machines to make coffee.

Mr Magnolia

Just realized I haven't used the moka since I purchased the Gaggia.

/hangs head in shame.

Gran Hermano

Mr Magnolia wrote: »

Just realized I haven't used the moka since I purchased the Gaggia.

/hangs head in shame.

Fear not, you are not the only one. I have both a 3 cup and 6 cup
gathering dust in a cupboard since I got my Gaggia as well.

I suppose on the slim chance should I ever find myself camping
I'll bring them to stick on a gas stove or fire.

Slaphead07

That's an amazing machine there..... enjoy.